“IF IT HAPPENED ONCE, IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN”

 

A series of essays….

ONE OF THE MANY MURALS THAT CAN BE SEEN ALONG THE
CITY’S WALLS IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA, TODAY, IN
MEMORY OF THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE

     Credit: slate.com

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

The goal was to lighten the story and to intentionally forget the lingering damage of the event.

What incident within the history of our country would you believe the line above might be referring to? It could be about each mass shooting that has heartbreakingly touched our lives over the past two decades beginning with the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999 which obliterated thirteen innocent lives and left many others both physically and mentally damaged for life.

I have a grudge or beef with someone. I have access to guns or the capability to buy them. Therefore, I have a license to kill. 

We are a gun toting, axe grinding, Wild, Wild West kind of society who values gun rights over human rights and the past two decades of carnage, death of innocence, and destruction appears to be just the tip of this monstrous iceberg.

Having lived in Orlando, Florida, when one man of color, George Zimmerman, decided he had the right to take the life of a black teen, Trayvon Martin, and another shooter, Omar Mateen, slaughtered forty-nine innocent young adults and wounded fifty-three more while they were enjoying the evening listening to music and dancing at the Pulse Nightclub; I recall being caught in the middle of this nightmare logistically and emotionally and they both weigh heavily on my mind to this day.

 

  GEORGE ZIMMERMAN          TRAYVON MARTIN

Sadly, the ‘brush it under the rug’ defense for many of these massacres has been a part of this nation’s mindset for a very long time. So much so that our school textbooks (my own high school U.S. History textbook), indicate that the publishers of these books have chosen for years not to include instances of hate crimes affiliated with white supremacy under the assumption that all men are not created equal! For decades our students have been cheated of the knowledge of actual events that could and should have helped to shape their lives in one way or another.

Listening to a middle-aged, black lawyer being interviewed and referencing his lack of knowledge of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 until recently and having him admit to the fact that even within his own Tulsa educational career, nothing was mentioned about this monumental event—sends chills down my spine. He did not know about the history of his own people and he lives in the city where it all happened! Think about that for a second. Our educational system certainly has some catching up to do on Black American history!

The goal was to lighten the story and to intentionally forget the lingering damage of the event.

You might think that as slave stories were kept alive through sermons and hymns throughout the years, something this horrendous might be emblazoned upon the minds of those having lived through it no matter what color their skin happened to be. So tight was the noose around the necks of these unconscious souls, their fear for their own lives cut-off the oxygen of reason to the brain that caused them to conveniently forget the lingering damage of this event while feeling that, “If it happened once, it can happen again.”

100 YEARS LATER, 107-YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR
OF THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE, VIOLA
FLETCHER, WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER..

      Credit: Viola Fletcher, By cartoonist: J.D. Crowe

If the history books failed to include the murder of possibly over 300 Black men, women, and children, many of whom were thrown in mass graves like rabid animals after a slaughter, similar to the Jewish population in Europe during the Holocaust, and having recently lived through the race riots and the major pandemic of 1918–what other events have white supremacists intentionally forgotten to mark down in page after page of our history books? How many new horrors have yet to be discovered and brought into the light of day? 

The blatant disregard for all humans and their rights has made it easier for haters to show their faces and take-up arms against what they consider to be the Establishment. Case in point would be the insurrection at the Capitol Building this past January 6, 2021. 

The goal was to lighten the story and to intentionally forget the lingering damage of the event.

Prompted by the most noted white supremacist today and grand leader of the hatred for all persons of color, our 45th president had preconceived ideas within his agenda long before entering the White House; long before his electoral collage election of 2016. His goals were transparent and consisted of ridding the nation of persons of color, resurrect white supremacy across the land, and establish himself as dictator of the United States while using his status to monetarily rape middle class and poor Americans along the way. His unconscious pawns carrying guns, knives, poison sprays, and sharpened objects became his warriors-in-hate and took up arms against the Constitution of the United States and those who chose to uphold its written laws. 

MADNESS ON CAPITOL HILL ~ JANUARY 6, 2021

                 

            Credit: TVLine

And, just like those who lightened the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921, certain elected officials are doing so today in the hope that we will forget the lingering damage of this event. As if the videos of this coup do not exist, they would like us to believe that this mob was there to take selfies in front of the Capitol Building as mementos for their children. They live in a fantasy world artfully directed by the money, power, and lust of powerful individuals determined to control us.

Where were the videos of the Tulsa Race Massacre hidden for all of these years? The videos illustrating deputized white men holding guns and rifles as they led Black American citizens, wrists tied with rope, along the smoldering streets of their own town to their imminent deaths. Where were the still photos of this massacre kept from us nearly a century in time? Photos of Black families thrown across their front fence like death’s jewelry for all to witness; an elderly Black couple kneeling by the side of their bed in prayer while being shot in the back of the head, execution style; a man tied with rope around his waist and dragged behind a vehicle, his head bouncing along the pavement; and people of all ages, zombie-like, walking the streets that were laden with dead bodies and debris.

Just as the mass graves of this massacre are being dug up today in order to determine the identities of the victims placed there one hundred years ago, the videos, photos, and information about this massacre have only recently been uncovered in the year 2001, but were brought to light by Michelle Price, the executive director of the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum, in 2012.

President Biden will not allow us to forget this dark history that actually exists, whether we believe it to be true or not. We will learn more about it, retain what we discover, teach it as a part of Black American history, and focus on controlling the hate that allowed it to happen in the first place. This is a game plan for people who believe in the Constitution, respect all people no matter their race, religion, or economic status, and believe and trust in the equality and justice of a true democratic society.

“IF IT HAPPENED ONCE, 
IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN….!”

The Biden administration will not allow us to forget why and by whom our own Capitol Building was attacked. We will always remember when officers and civilians died in their own attempts to protect or destroy our democracy. We must never fail to recall the insurrection of January 6, 2021–no matter how much the far right would like to ‘lighten the story’ and have us forget.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM!

 

A series of essays….

WHO DOESN’T REMEMBER OUR FAVORITE ‘ZOOM-ZOOM’ CHARACTERS 
SEEN EVERY SATURDAY MORNING: WILE E. COYOTE & THE ROAD RUNNER…
BEEP BEEP!

Source: tvtropes

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

If you look at the word zoom closely or for an extended period of time, your eyes begin to cross and you may find you lose all recognition of this simple, four-letter word! If you look at any word long enough, it just doesn’t make sense any longer. It’s all a matter of what the eyes perceive and what messages they send to the brain. When we over exercise the message, our eyes tend to see the image in a different way. We know the word is zoom. We know the meaning of the word zoom. However, our eyes look at the word and it changes how we see it: we analyze the structure of the word instead of the word as an entire entity and it becomes strange to us.

I think we all do this with words at one time or another. There must be a scientific term applied to this phenomenon!

Meanwhile, I’m thinking back on how this word, zoom, has fit into my life long before Zoom Links and Zoom Meetings. Even my parent’s black, box camera was equipped with minor zoom capabilities and produced some of the best (black & white) photos that I, and others my age, cherish to this day. My first all inclusive zoom camera, the Minolta compact zoom camera with wrist strap, gave me the freedom to take it anywhere and have at the ready while my children were quite young.  

THE CAMERA THAT TAUGHT ME
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND ENJOY THE
ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CANON AE-1

The camera that truly changed my life was the Canon AE-1 film camera that Dan surprised me with at a birthday celebration long ago. It was classified in the ‘heavy weight’ division of cameras and was the friend who taught me the major capabilities of a powerful zoom lens, how to gauge lighting to the best advantage, and enjoy, in general, the functionality of a well-made camera. After adding a telephoto or long focus lens to it, I felt as though I could swing by the office, pick-up my National Geographic lanyard, and proceed to fly off to some exotic location on a photo shoot!

By 2003, the Sony Digital Still Camera (DSC-V1) with Memory Stick and Smart Zoom was the new rage in camera technology. Before Smart Phones displaced the singular camera as most used for sharp, beautiful imagery, it was the Canon EOS Rebel, lightweight and highly efficient, that truly revolutionized the digital world for me. This camera with its intelligent zoom lens was highly prized and used more than any camera I have ever owned—at least until Steve Jobs changed our way of thinking about all-in-one performance of camera, phone, and computer.

In October of 2000 a young boy named Micah Kanters from Chicago uttered the two words that rang out across our television screens in the form of, “Zoom, zoom!” when Mazda used his face and voice to launch a thousand sedans. Micah is now a thirty-one year-old lawyer with a wife and newborn child of his own. This Mazda catch phrase soon became Mazda’s official slogan and the company’s first globally-unified marketing campaign.

MICAH KANTERS TODAY AT THIRTY-ONE
WITH HIS WIFE AND CHILD

Credit: Micah Kanters

Upon leaving our home in Orlando two years ago, a sight I miss the most is when incoming airplanes made their decent just to the west of our home and landed five miles away at OIA, Orlando International Airport. The zoom and gentle glide of huge, bulky jetliners taking off and landing has always fascinated me and I could watch them ‘do their thing’ for hours on end. 

Living in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, years ago, I would look up into the summer sky and follow the gentle criss-cross pattern of the white, high altitude contrails made by the jets streaming through the gentle, blue sky while making their way in every possible  direction. Where did they originate from and what was their particular destination? I would make-up short stories about the people in the planes and live vicariously through them as we landed in Hawaii, New Zealand, Quebec City, or among the bright lights of Paris. Then I would zoom off in a taxi to my imaginary destination to be filled with action and excitement.

For now, anyway, the real action zooming around me these days is in the garden. Filled with old and new plantings and lively colors each spring, it guarantees to attract the lively bees out for a tasty snack while they gather pollen to be distributed along their zig-zagging flight itinerary. I used to be frightened by their presence as a child and swat away at them if they came too close. Now, well, now they have become friends as I, and many others, have learned to value and dearly appreciate their close friendship. Today, I look at them and smile while being charmed by their important task and very existence.

The days of zooming around taking one child to ballet class and the other to her guitar lesson are in the past. However, having to keep a multitude of work related appointments each week has helped me fully appreciate attending Zoom Meetings—for now. The convenience of a Zoom Meeting is very powerful, my friends. It allows us to be in many places with people from all over the globe without the inconvenience of major stress, travel time, or related expenses. It has not only kept us in touch with family and friends, but we’ve had the opportunity to experience real-time museum tours, walk the streets of Paris with our own guide, attend classes, and all while a global pandemic had us firmly in its grasp. Zoom Meetings could be the lifesaving concept we accept as the norm in the months and years to come.

Today I look at this four-letter word, zoom, with new eyes and ask: Is our once fast paced world learning positive lessons from our extreme pandemic one? That verdict may still be out until we are once again free to move about the world in peace, harmony and good health. Life has changed from what we knew it to be—and, I believe we should come to terms with many of these changes. Things do happen for good reasons and opening up our mind to them just may be a lot of what this past year has been all about.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

FROM MONET TO GARDENERS EVERYWHERE: CAPTURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXPRESSIVE ART

A series of essays….

SO DELIGHTFUL TO THE EYE — A LARGE BOWL
OF DELICATE, COLORFUL CALLA LILIES!

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

I love it when the evening sunlight spreads itself so generously across the golf course behind our cottage. The Master Pastry Chef has outdone Herself as she generously smooths lemon buttercream along the gentle hills and slopes of the eighth fairway and splashes the trees and newly formed leaves with glittering fragments of gold leaf. Tree trunks are illuminated with pure light as the sun slowly sets in the western sky and I wonder if the playfulness of the sun and clouds will offer a sideshow of plum and salmon ribbons of color bursting through the diminishing blue sky. I can only sit here and hope to witness more of God’s magic as evening flows into night shadows.

THE EVENING SUNLIGHT LIBERALLY
FLOWS ACROSS THE EIGHTH FAIRWAY!

Our little cottage remains a constant work in progress, inside and out. We always knew this would be the case going into this rather large project almost six years ago while still living and working in Orlando. How can one fail to nurture and love something as giving as the roof and four walls that protect you from the elements and coddles you in such an indulgent way? Whatever work we do on our little cottage, the joy of living here comes back to us ten times over.

RHODODENDRON AND LAVENDER 
FILL THE SMALL FRONT YARD.

Yesterday, before sitting at our back deck to relax and observe the highlighting of the eighth fairway, we spent the day in Claude Monet mode, manipulating light and shadow to portray landscapes in a groundbreaking manner; arbiters of our personal works of art. Instead of depicting water lilies resting on a serene pond and Japanese footbridges, we filled cornflower blue and terra cotta pots with calla lilly pastels, the rich greens of rosemary and sage, and marigolds popping with the brightness of tangerine orange and sunshine yellow.

As a young man, Monet always enjoyed the outdoors. He had spent his entire youth moving from town to town along the river Seine. But wherever he lived, he planted flowers. He justified his obsessive garden-making on the grounds that flowers gave him a subject to paint while he was indoors. We learned about this specific point on our visit to the artist’s garden and home in Giverny, France, located fifty miles northwest of Paris, a few years ago. We were fortunate to have walked along the famous gravel paths, drifted under the arbors clad in a profusion of color and fragrant scents that arched just above our heads, and take note of the giant water lilies thriving among the gentle ripples of Giverny’s famous pond. Yes, we strolled across the Japanese footbridge and marveled at being able to walk in Monet’s footsteps and actually experienced the spiritual presence of this brilliant man.

SEVERAL PICTURES FROM OUR VISIT TO
GIVERNY— DAN IS WEARING A HAT
STANDING ON THE JAPANESE FOOTBRIDGE.

Dan has captured the essence of Giverny by painting from the pictures we’d taken while exploring those hallowed grounds. Just like the budding artists who moved to Giverny to learn from the master himself, Monet’s gift of individualizing the beauty that surrounded him continues to influence many of us who paint and enjoy gardening, today.

Our Monet moment yesterday consisted of combining swatches of color from the living plants we’d found most pleasing to our own eyes and transferring these plants in groups or stand-alone vignettes within the flower beds and pots. It was pleasing to discover how masterful, if only by the sheer joy of the work, a gardener utilizes shapes and color just as Monet had enjoyed doing so many years before. Gardening feeds the soul, encourages personal artistic expression, and stimulates, through our physical labor, the production of endorphins that help us diminish the perception of stress and pain.

THE BIG, BLUE POT THAT
LIVES ON OUR BACK DECK

FLOWERS AND HERBS—
OUR ATTEMPT AT KEEPING THEM
FROM BEING NIBBLED ON!

As the onset of the glorious sunset was tempting me with lemon buttercream and the sparkle of golden trees, I knew I was absolutely exhausted from the day’s labor. Grabbing an ice cold can of cherry and lime flavored La Croix sparkling water from the refrigerator, it was time to step out on the back deck, find a comfy seat, and observe the beauty that surrounded me. This is, truly, a magical time of the day!

Tomorrow we will tackle a few more studies in color and balance around the yard, revel in the fact that our fourteen-year-old granddaughter will be getting her first Pfizer inoculation, and eventually become exhausted, once again, while loving every moment of it. As each day, week, and month goes by, you will find us sitting on the back deck and marveling at the beauty all around us, including our own works of art, all while attempting to never take any of it for granted as long as our time here exists. Color us—happy!

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photos Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

 

HAVE YOU EVER…?

A series of essays….

“LET THE SUN SHINE, LET THE SUNSHINE IN”

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

A spider’s web, much to my surprise, wrapped itself around my shoulders this morning as I stepped out on the back deck to capture the early morning light filtering through the adolescent leaves of our maples, sassafras, and oaks. Thinking of how our spirits can be lifted by the mere sight of sunlight penetrating the objects surrounding us and that we often take little heed of during grey, gloomy weather, I snapped several pictures before reentering the house through our knotty alder French doors.

Have you ever wondered about the nocturnal activity that surrounds you while you’re sleeping all snuggled within the soft folds of bed linens and surreal dreams of past, present, and future? As plantings cool down from the heat of the day only to be served up as delicious and colorful salad for the herds of deer roaming the landscaped lawns in the safety and comfort of night shadows. The artistic spider weaves its smooth, glossy, and intricate tapestry of threads stretching from one ceramic pot to another; one deck chair back to the built-in bench our grandchildren love to sit and play on. Walking through that delicate tapestry was like entering a new dimension in time and space; a porthole by which one transitions from the darkness of night into the morning’s light!

Have you ever looked into the depths of a child’s eyes (your own grandchild’s eyes) and felt you could dive into them as if they were the bottomless pools of untapped knowledge, unchartered hope, and limitless love you had been seeking all of your life?

Have you ever questioned yourself for any reason? From: “Should I have purchased that dress in navy blue instead of red?” To: “Would working for the renowned law firm in downtown Orlando be more prudent and fulfilling than working for an established builder in Celebration?” We make our choices along the way and to second guess them after the fact would be an imprudent thing to do. Acceptance of our personal selections in life and working hard to make them fit us comfortably has been the joy of living in a ‘free country’ awash with personal opportunities and benefits. What if the ideals behind the words free, opportunities, and benefits were stripped away from us due to the color of our skin? What if we were all made to wear navy blue instead of being able to opt for the color red?

Have you ever thought about losing your freedom and the individual rights we share as citizens of this country? Have you ever wondered about the wisdom of old men and women with shocks of white and dyed hair that harbor the need for corruption and greed? I know that change can be counteracted by more change and good shall rise from the depths of evil and that it requires patience and lots of hard work to make that happen. Retaining our democracy is so worth all we have to give to make that happen!

THE SUN RISES OVER THE BUILT-IN
BENCH OUR GRANDCHILDREN LOVE

Have you ever woken up in a place that was not your own bedroom and wondered where in the world you were? For over four, long years we questioned our grasp of normalcy which shifted from stability to trying to understand the jealous negativism surrounding a man whom we wanted to believe signed up to lead us into a brighter future. As he still, even after losing the election of 2020, pounds his lies into vulnerable people hoping to prove what most of us do not understand, I know that his was not the world I’d signed up for or expected for myself and my children. His blatant disregard for life and the pursuit of happiness never represented the cozy bedroom I fell asleep in the night before.

Have you ever felt less threatened and more loved than ever since the establishment of the Biden/Harris administration? My heart is more at peace now than it has been for years. Knowing that good change is happening with so much more to come brings such deep joy to all of us who helped make this change happen in November of 2020. We cannot afford to have this precious right to vote taken away from any single one of us by ignorant people who embrace and value white supremacy as a privilege they fully believe is theirs to flaunt as the truth.

I keep my camera on the oak library table that stands tall against the wall nearest the set of French doors in the dining room. It’s convenient to snag it on my way out the door on an early morning photo shoot. My evening adventures are slightly less conducive to walking through spider’s webs, fortunately. However, when the warm light of a firefly is enclosed within laced fingers and emits a surreal glow like minute rays of green-tinted moonlight, do we not wonder in amazement at how special our life truly is?

Later in the day, when I slowly turn around and look up into the sun that gently peeks out over our roofline, I think how it resembles a magnificent, sparkling palm tree. It’s fronds seem to be protecting our house as if they were gigantic, gossamer arms spun by a giant counterpart of the spider that had impressed me earlier in the morning. My heart is full; my world appeased.

Have you ever felt so loved that you just know that everything is going to be okay? That it would be worth while giving ourselves and the future another chance at getting it right?

“SO LET THE SUN SHINE IN, FACE IT
WITH A GRIN, SMILERS NEVER LOSE
AND FROWNERS NEVER WIN.”

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photos © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

INSPIRATION

 

A series of essays….

THE STUNNING BLUE HYDRANGEA THAT SAT ON
OUR LANAI IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA. 
“HURT YOUR EYES BEAUTIFUL!”

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

What does it take to inspire us; to inspire the inner child, artist, teacher, along with our intricate hopes and extraordinary dreams? The excitement of having our mind, emotions, and imagination ramped up to a high degree of feeling and activity is one of the main reasons books are written, music is composed, and grand ideas become working, functioning chapters in the long and illustrious history of the world. We move forward because we become inspired. But, the question remains—what inspires us?

What draws us closer to the flame and ready to burst with an adrenaline-filled explosion of energy and ideas? Our desire to grow and nurture a brand new branch onto the tree of learning for others to see, grasp, and enjoy for many years to come is a prime example of what can and does inspire us to create; especially believing that our creativity may, in turn, inspire others! 

Being inspired can take your breath away, knock you off your feet, and animate your entire being with high spiritedness and genuine euphoria while encouraging happiness and elation. To be inspired can relate to both a mental and physical transformation where the state of mind reaches a high level of motivation and the body reacts in a highly stimulated manner. Our elation may last throughout the duration of a particular cause, or reach out to us within a snippet of time initiating an adrenaline rush beyond fear and risk and offer the sensation of pleasure and, ultimately, much required peace of both mind and body.

OUR ‘SIMPLI-SAFE’ HOME,
INSPIRATION FROM THE INSIDE OUT…

Being motivated can be one of the most acceptable reasons for becoming inspired or engaged. It is the carrot and stick that dangles before our eyes, the persuasiveness of a friend in need of assistance, the prod or push needed to complete a project started years before, and the reason we march for a particular cause that settles deep within our chest and connects with our soul. We march for a cause, what we believe to be the truth, and are inspired by our leaders, educators, and fellow believers who keep us motivated along the way. 

Let’s not forget that money can be a great motivator, also, and can launch a thousand ships and even more careers. Financial gain inspires us to spend more, as well as be able to save more, thus helping to reassure us that our mature years may be comfortable and financially safe. Remembering that money can’t buy us lasting love or happiness and that we will always require sound reasoning and common sense no matter what our bank account looks like — life, death, paying taxes, and our health become the great equalizers. They serve to counterbalance opposing forces and bond us together as equal partners in this game of life.

SPRING COLOR AND WARMTH
OUTSIDE THE FRONT WINDOW

Inspiration unfolds before our eyes like a colorful spring flower that pops through the earth’s crust to joyfully encounter warmth, moisture, and the magical distribution of its pollen by generous bees who help maintain its existence for generations to follow. Much like a walk through an art museum may inspire a child to begin painting or an adult to continue painting by looking at others’ work, we are provided stimulus via examples that promote the cleverness hidden deep inside us. 

The educator is motivated by the success stories of his former students. An inventor is inspired by the direct needs of others and the environment’s requirement of an immediate upgrade. Vaccines are produced through the intense research of scientists who are inspired by the genuine necessities of humankind around the world. And, good change is achieved through the concentrated effort of everyone who cares enough to make it happen.

Finally, I believe that we are inspired by love itself. Love, simply addressed as unconditional and universal; the love for your fellow man, children, God, beauty in all of its forms, and nature. This love includes self love regardless of any flaws while embracing these flaws with a simple act of acceptance. This unselfish, sacrificing love flows with the intention of giving rather than receiving. We are inspired by this love to embrace the potential of complete joy and happiness by the observance of all that is good and powerful around us. Love is the inspiration we require. Love truly does make the world go round through its unique sense of balance and the knowledge that many ordinary events could not happen without it.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photos Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

MAY DAY AND BLUE HYDRANGEA BLOSSOMS

 

A series of essays....

CEREMONIES, RITUALS, AND MEMORIES SHARED WITH LOVE
HELP US APPRECIATE THE DEEP FOUNDATIONS THAT 
STABILIZE US THROUGHOUT OUR LIFETIME

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Walking with my head held high and pure joy in my heart, my black Buster Brown ‘Mary Jane’ shoes tapped a rhythm down the long, tiled hallway. Obediently, I made my way to Sister Rose Marie’s small office at the back of the school. The little, round package of tin foil gently rested in my small hands. It’s wrapping, done up very neatly by my mother minutes before, was to be delivered to Sister and opened prior to the actual ceremony that was scheduled for ten o’clock that morning.

I hadn’t been in this new school for more than a few months, considering my dad’s employment sent us packing to a different town at least once a year. Fortunately, my older brother and I seemed to be adjusting quite well to this current environment and range of new faces and personalities that designated yet another change in our young lives. At least I was always making new friends each stop along my ‘skipping stones’ journey through parochial elementary school and life in general!

MEMORIES: BUSTER BROWN ‘MARY JANE’ SHOES

St. Peter’s Parish in Fort Wayne, Indiana celebrated Mary, Jesus’ mother, throughout the month of May as most Catholic Churches and families do. This celebration serves as a reminder of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s importance in the life of the Church and in our own lives, as well. Usually, a May Altar is erected along with a statue of Mary and a colorful array of flowers and lit candles and may stand throughout the month of May. A May Crowning is often held presenting Mary with a crown made of fresh blossoms in her honor while denoting the beginning of spring with all of its colorful bounty.

Finally arriving at my destination, Sister Rose Marie greeted me with a genuine smile and gently released me from the precious cargo I’d been carrying since my father dropped me off at the front of the school on his way to work. St. Peter’s was only a few city blocks from our home and my older brother and I would normally walk to class together each day in the rain, sunshine, or snowfall. But, this was the first day of May. This was a very special day in so many ways. This was a ride to school kind of day!

Upon settling into our rental home on Lafayette Street near the Ivan Lebamoff Reservoir Park two months earlier, we found St. Peter’s Parish to be very welcoming and it was easy for me to settle into a happy routine of school life, as well as home life. Maybe it was the juxtaposition of springtime and another long-distance move that helped to ease any doubts I may have had about being able to fit in with the kids in my new class. With the love and guidance of Sister Rose Marie as my teacher, I was able to seamlessly acquire ‘acceptance status’ within my new second grade class in only a few weeks.

By the time my class began discussing our May Day plans of where the altar was to be set-up, the songs we would sing together in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and who would be chosen to crown Mary on this special day, I expected that this newbie would be forgotten among the shadows cast by the brooms and mops located in the classroom’s back closet.

FRIENDSHIP HAS NO COLOR, GENDER
OR HIDDEN AGENDA

When Sister Rose Marie announced that we would all be voting that afternoon for the girl or boy who would crown Mary on May Day, my enthusiasm reached out to Josephine, Cathy, Linda, and Elizabeth. These girls were beautiful, so friendly, and fast becoming my partners in recess activities and future sleepovers at my house. It was exceedingly difficult for me to decide for whom I should cast my vote because many of the boys generously reached out for my friendship, too, helping to teach all of us that friendship has no color, gender, or hidden agenda.

Around a half an hour before the final bell was to ring out our departure for the day, we were asked to jot a name down on a small slip of paper, fold it in half, and place it in a well worn, felt hat being passed down each aisle. To give our suspense even more potency, we were told we would find out the results after mass in the morning. 

The following afternoon, I can’t even remember feeling the pavement beneath my feet or the slight drizzle that misted my entire body on the walk home from school. I scrambled through the backdoor shedding coat and book bag while desperately calling out for my mother. After all—she truly had the most important job of all in the next few days. My mother was to make the small, circular crown of fresh and colorful blossoms that I was to place on the top of the statue of the Blessed Virgin for the May Crowning celebration in my classroom!

I, the new kid, was selected by her new friends to take on one of the most celebrated honors I could have ever imagined in the eyes of the Church at that particular time of my life. 

My mother’s talents rose to this immensely important occasion. After constructing a small circle of thin wire with several lengths twisted together for stability, she wove absorbent material throughout the twisted wire frame. Carefully pulling apart strands of blue hydrangea, her favorite flower, she used silver tweezers to arrange the delicate blooms in and around the petite structure until the wire and paper were completely camouflaged in a soft blue haze of tiny blossoms. And for the pièce de résistance, she finished the project by inserting three, long strands of narrow satin ribbon, the colors of cotton candy, at the back of the crown. These were to flow down the back of Mary’s veiled head and soften the blue folds of her immovable clothing. This crown was perfect. My mother was perfect.

Presenting Mary with a handmade crown of blossoms at the May Crowning was an honor and a privilege for me. My heart told me not to feel such joy because of the pride I’d felt at placing my own mother’s crown on Mary’s head, but because Mary is a Mother—your mother, my mother, and everyone’s mother and she cares for us day in and day out without fail.

Happy May Day. Happy Mother’s Day. Happy time of growth, rebirth, and springtime in all its glory!

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

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